Is it insurable?

21 December 2017
by
Urbania

Your first experience with insurance was probably around the time you
got your drivers’ license and needed to insure your car. Since then
you’ve probably come to realize that just about everything in life can
be insured. Here are 10 examples of some of the craziest things you
might want to insure.

1 - A body part

Like many athletes, F1 driver Fernando Alonso decided to insure part
of his body: his thumbs, for 13 million US dollars. You might find
that funny, but who can blame him? Without the use of his thumbs, his
career would be over. In the end, it’s the same concept as traditional
disability insurance, the kind that keeps you out of trouble if an
accident prevents you from working!

2 - An alien invasion

Yes, you read it right: aliens. A British insurer has sold more than
30,000 policies promising holders that they’ll be protected in case of
an alien abduction or invasion. We’re guessing the claim form isn’t
easy to fill out…

3 - Credit card payments

Let’s come back down to Earth with a more prosaic insurance type. If
an accident or job loss prevents you from paying your credit card,
stress can climb fast as interest starts to build up. You can avoid
this type of situation with a credit card payment protection plan.
Depending on your situation, your minimum payment or even the full
balance of your card could be covered.

4 - Weddings

A wedding is a major life event, but it’s also a big investment. Many
insurance companies offer policies that protect you against theft
during the ceremony, unexpected events and in some cases, it could
even cover you for financial losses incurred if your partner gets cold feet!

5 - A stroke of luck

Some foundations hold an interesting challenge during their golf
tournaments: if a player gets a hole in one, they win a million
dollars. Obviously, the chances of this happening are low, but if it
does, the foundation needs to pay out. Not ideal when the goal is to
raise funds, not to disburse them. There are therefore insurance
companies specialised in this type of event, which allows event
organizers to breath easy when a champion-in-training hits a killer shot…

6 - A mortgage

A bit like with credit cards, things could get ugly if you realize
that a situation out of your control is preventing you from making
your mortgage payments. If you want to avoid putting your home on ice,
mortgage insurance (life, disability, health) might be worthwhile.

7 - An infestation

For such tiny little creatures, bedbugs have a real talent for
turning your life upside down. For anyone who lives in fear of an
infestation (or for hotel owners), companies sell insurance to protect
you against these insects, that covers all costs related to
eliminating the infestation and replacing any contaminated furniture.
It doesn’t make the infestation any more fun, but at least financial
stress is out of the equation.

8 - Landscapes

This type of insurance might seem strange, but think about how you
would feel if you opened up a café beside a huge, magnificent,
hundred-year-old tree that tourists go out of their way to see, and
one morning… it’s blown down by the wind. And, it’s possible to be
insured against the collateral damage you’d incur if the tree in
question was damaged!

9 - Your house (and everything in it)

There are lots of reasons you might want to get home insurance. If
you’re an owner, it’s simple: you’ll want to avoid thousands of
dollars in bills in case of fire or water damage. But if you’re a
renter? That’s important too, because if negligence on your part
causes a problem, you can end up with a preposterously huge bill. Even
if you had nothing to do with it, you’ll still need to replace your
damaged goods.

10 - Twins

Having a baby is expensive. And even more so when two show up at the
same time! That’s why one British company (again!) offers insurance to
parents who are worried about multiple births. The policy obviously
needs to be taken out before the eleventh week of pregnancy, which is
when it’s possible to confirm the number of occupants in mom’s
stomach. Obviously, the higher your risk of multiples is (family
history, maternal age, etc.) the higher your premiums will be.

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